Finding parts for our Mustangs isn't easy. I can tell you it used to be a lot harder. The number of vendors was smaller and there was no internet searching or EBay. Local papers and Hemmings is how you found most parts (used) and I always had a collection of some of the mustang vendors catalogs. Most of the time you would see a part listed in a catalog and it would include everything upto 1970. There are still all kinds of stuff you can't get.

Of course, since our production runs were less the used part availability is also limited. Oh, and the 73 has different front fenders to boot.

I searched for years for a tilt steering column. I must have followed up on several dozen leads until I found a guy in Florida who had a collection of used parts including the column. I also had a heck of a time finding the protection molding and the rocker molding (I have a set of NOS but now they are repo'd).

Ebay came along and that made it a lot easier.

So how long have you been doing this? For me it's been 30 years. What part did you find that you were most excited about?

I've been into the car thing since the mid 70s. Parts for these cars is easy now days. Back then I had a '64 GTO, one year only for most body parts. A ton of junkyard scrounging. One time I bought a complete car just for a hood.

droptop73;25027 Wrote:One time I bought a complete car just for a hood.

That's funny! I could imagine doing that. I found my NASA hood local, it had a dent and wasn't cheap but I finally had one.

I was looking at some of the vendor sites and it reminded me of the time I picked up a new horn switch (the part inside the steering wheel) from a local ford dealer. I grabbed a bigger front sway bar from them too.

One time, in a quest to find a tilt steering I went and checked out a parting out cougar. It had a brown steering console (they were colored matched) and I thought it was broken because I didn't understand how the tilt worked....

73mach1429;25041 Wrote:I have been chasing Mustang parts since 1983, the internet makes things much easier. It was nice back in the day when you could still find these cars in the junk yards.

That's a good point. I bet they just don't show up there anymore. I went to a lot of bone yards looking for parts.

It's easier now but I remember the absolute excitement when you finally did chase down a part. I suppose it is the same now except it's for the more rare stuff and, of course, lots of other people find out about it at the same time.

When I unwrapped my used tilt column it was one of my happiest mustang memories. (I have a few )

I spent a lot of time in the junk yards around Columbus, OH in the late 70's, early 80's looking for options for my 73 Mach 1 that I bought in high school. I paid $2300 for it in 1977. It had only 33,000 miles and was in great shape but it was a plain jane to be sure. Its only option was A/C. I remember finding a 73 Mach 1 in the junkyard that had the full gauge package. I thought I had struck the mother lode! $50 later, that tach/speedometer and the 3 gauge cluster with all the wiring was mine. I stayed up until 4:00 am installing that stuff. I still remember firing the car up after all was installed and seeing that tach needle sitting there at 625 RPM, fully illuminated. All gauges worked. I took it out for a spin around the block. Those were good times! Me and that Mach parted ways in Southern California in 1985 - where are you now 3F05H253351?

will e;25021 Wrote:Finding parts for our Mustangs isn't easy. I can tell you it used to be a lot harder. The number of vendors was smaller and there was no internet searching or EBay. Local papers and Hemmings is how you found most parts (used) and I always had a collection of some of the mustang vendors catalogs. Most of the time you would see a part listed in a catalog and it would include everything upto 1970. There are still all kinds of stuff you can't get.

Of course, since our production runs were less the used part availability is also limited. Oh, and the 73 has different front fenders to boot.

I searched for years for a tilt steering column. I must have followed up on several dozen leads until I found a guy in Florida who had a collection of used parts including the column. I also had a heck of a time finding the protection molding and the rocker molding (I have a set of NOS but now they are repo'd).

Ebay came along and that made it a lot easier.

So how long have you been doing this? For me it's been 30 years. What part did you find that you were most excited about?

Hi,

locating parts was even harder for us enthusiasts over here in Europe. One of the very view sources of information were the mustang magazines, and communication with parts vendors was mostly by FAX and very expensive trans atlantic phone bills. I had stacked up quite a pile of catalogs, but there were also vendors that didn't send parts overseas.

The most exiting part I found back then was my '71 Mach 1 (if that counts ;-)